Pages

Thank you for visiting my blog!

Thank you for visiting my blog!

This blog is used to share information that I find about the families that I am researching. To see these family names click on the tab above. Please feel free to contribute your stories or research and make comments, corrections, and ask questions.

If we have a common ancestor, or if you have questions or comments that you don’t want to post, please go to the "About Me" tab to send me an e-mail.

Reading this Blog

My posts can be accessed by the date posted from the column on the right. Blog posts containing specific surnames can be found by clicking on the names in the left column.

Line

Thursday, March 29, 2012

I have always liked this picture. There is no
identification on the picture. However, I will only find clues by posting it
and hoping that another Bryan or Hairston descendant has the same or a similar
picture labeled with the children’s names. There is a good possibility that it was taken
in Baylor County, Texas where my grandparents lived in Seymour and Levelview. I like the big house in the background and
wonder if it is recognized by someone reading this in Baylor County. So, if you are a Bryan or Hairston descendant
and have any pictures that you would like to compare, I would love to hear from
you. By the same token, if you are
familiar with homes in Baylor County and think that this could be a Baylor
County picture, I would also like to hear from you. If you don’t want to post to the blog, you
can send me an e-mail at dewquinn@aol.com.

Sunday, March 25, 2012

My father, Whit Criswell Bryan, was born in Seymour,
Texas on December 21, 1920. His birth
announcement was found in the Baylor County Banner and, as I wrote previously,
he was probably born in this house.

Whit and his mother, Myrtie Hairston Bryan 1921

I like to look at details in photographs to determine location and time. Often, these details tell more information about my family and the places that they lived. These baby pictures of my father were probably taken in Seymour, Texas and all appear to be at the same location; presumably revealing the home of a neighbor.

Whit Criswell Bryan

Whit Criswell Bryan

The Bryan family lived on River Street and, according
to the 1920 census, neighbors included the families of Charles T. Porter, S. G.
Farmer, Mrs. G. W. E. Arden, and David D. Phillips.

Also included on that census sheet were the families
of Galen D. Plants and M. D. Lankford, but no streets were named. The W. F. Hooser and Willy Stevens families nearby
lived on Arkansas Street.

The following pictures are of family members next to
the house. The siding and windows in the picture match those of earlier
pictures. My grandmother passed away in 1927 and information
from a distant cousin leads me to believe that the family was living in the
home at her time of death.

My grandfather served two terms as the county tax
assessor and according to his obituary, was once a large land owner in Baylor
County. However, he died penniless in 1929 and I suppose that he lost the house
to foreclosure.

I would appreciate any thoughts from those who live
in or know about Baylor County. I would
love to know who purchased the house and if it is still standing. A look at street view map of North River Road
showed some homes that resembled the Bryan family home.

You can post your comments to the blog or send me an
e-mail at dewquinn@aol.com.

Other
Baylor County Resources:

I have five pages of unidentified pictures on my web
pages; many taken in Baylor County. Click
below to see my pictures of unidentified family and friends.

Obituaries, deaths, and more from old issues of The
Baylor County Banner are on my web pages. If the family name is mentioned on my
pages, send me an e-mail to request the entire article.

Thursday, March 22, 2012

In 2001, I visited Seymour, Texas and found houses with
similar roof lines and remnants of similar porches. Although I considered this
house unique, I learned that the style was not unique at that time.Looking at Latchstrings, A Cross-Section of Baylor County Homes published in
1986 by the Baylor County Historical Society, I saw even more houses of the
same style.

According to the following articles found in the
Baylor County Banner, my grandfather bought the land in 1917. About the same
time, he purchased a home to be moved to his property from Mr. W. A.
Bennett.

The Baylor County Banner
September 13, 1917

The Baylor County Banner
September 27, 1917

The home that he purchased could have very likely
been the residence of W. A. Bennett seen below. The picture was found while
transcribing old issues of theBaylor County Banner and appears to have
been taken in 1906.

The Baylor County Banner 1906

If you have any thoughts about this house, you can
post your comments to the blog or send
me an e-mail at dewquinn@aol.com

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

The Bible contained all sorts of treasures;
newspaper clippings, photos, certificates, a lock of hair,
fabric from my grandmother’s wedding dress, and a picture of this house.

The House in Seymour, Texas

In the late 1990s, I asked my father about the
house. He was certain that he lived in it when he was much younger. He
remembered sitting on the front porch while trying to open his father’s
pocket watch. He couldn't open it, so broke it open with a hammer. This watch had
been passed down from his grandfather. When his father saw it, he chased Dad
off of the porch . . . said his sisters saved him.

This was enough to
convince me that the house was a Bryan family home in Seymour, Texas and probably the home where
Dad was born. The tall man on the porch may be my grandfather, Redic Eli
Bryan. The following pictures are of
Dad as a baby and Buster, Dad's older brother; both taken next to the
house.

My father, Whit Criswell Bryan, 1921

Hairston "Buster" Albritton Bryan

According to 1920 census records, the house was on
River Street and near Arkansas Street.
The Amon Carter Museum website has a birds-eye-view of Seymour in 1890.
River Street was beside the Brazos River and was parallel to Arkansas Street.

I will post more about the house in the next two
posts. If readers familiar with my family or with Seymour have any information
about the house, please post your comments to the blog or send me an e-mail at dewquinn@aol.com.

Friday, March 16, 2012

My grandparents, great-grandparents, two infant
children, and my father’s older brother are buried in Woodmen / IOOF
cemetery. I have visited once, but don’t
remember much more than the sign on the fence and my grandmother’s headstone –
the only family member with a marked grave.

This cemetery picture was found in pictures that once
belonged to my father’s parents and his sisters. Is this a picture of the
Woodmen/IOOF cemetery or another in or near Seymour? Does anyone recognize this tower?

Below is a picture that might have been taken at the
base of the tower.

Saturday, March 10, 2012

This picture is one of the many pictures sent to me
by my cousin, Jackie (see Forgotten
Family Part I). According to the note written on the
back, DeRay Bryan is in the front (middle) and her sister Marie is sitting on
her right. Millard
Ray Latta is the tall girl in the back. DeRay and Marie were
my father’s sisters. Millard Ray was his first cousin.

I suspect that the picture was taken between 1912 to
1916. The family attended First Baptist Church and lived in Seymour for most of
that period. Can anyone identify the other girls?

I decided to compare the girls to those in the W.O.W
Women posted on my blog July 8, 2011 and then realized that
the windows and curtains were the same in both pictures. Was this someone’s
home? There is recognizable wallpaper in the above picture. Does anyone have similar pictures?